Taylor Swift: You've heard her name. Now you'll see her up close and personal. The 19-year-old singing sensation sold more albums last year than Madonna, Miley Cyrus or The Jonas Brothers, becoming both pop's top seller, and country's hottest act.

Dateline is about to take you on tour with Taylor Swift, giving you an all access pass into this young star's life.

You will see private home videos, never before-seen photos. We will even take you inside her bedroom. From behind the scenes at her rehearsals, to backstage on the opening night of the sold-out tour, we are with Taylor every step of the way.

We first meet up with the star in Houston, Texas. Her tour is still in the planning stages and rehearsals have yet to start -- but tonight, she'll perform at the Houston Rodeo for a crowd of more than 70,000.

Taylor Swift: This is actually happening right now. Wow. I've never seen that many people ever in one place. Just knowing that they all had ticket stubs in their pocket that said my name on them was the craziest feeling.

It's crazy alright. Even though the launch of her tour in Evansville, Indiana is still more than a month away, all 52 of her shows are sold out.

HodaKotb: Did you freak about how quickly they sold out?

Taylor Swift: I get a call that says, hey, guess what? You sold the Staples Center out in two minutes.

HodaKotb: Can you believe it?

Taylor Swift: Are you kidding?

Louie Messina, tour promoter: It's been amazing. Madison Square Garden sells out in one minute. The Staples Center in Los Angeles in 2 minutes. Even just little towns - Lafayette, Louisiana, Greensboro, Arkansas- all 3, 5, 7 minutes sell-outs. Throughout my whole career, I've never seen anything like this. I said this to her as Bruce Springsteen was the voice of his generation, Taylor is the voice of her generation.

Scott Borchetta, President & Ceo, Big Machine Records: You have to be careful in this moment. You're never bigger than the game. The minute you think you're bigger than the game is the minute that you start to lose the game.

But Taylor Swift doesn't seem interested in the game. Even as her music races up the charts, she remains remarkably level-headed.

Taylor Swift: I'm never gonna feel like I'm on top of it, and at the height of what I know how to do. I don't think what demographic this is going to hit, or what format of radio is going to play this, I just write the song for the person that I'm writing the song to.

That's right. Unlike a lot of music's biggest idols, Taylor sings about her life, in songs that she writes. Maybe that's why her fans relate to her so well.

Taylor Swift: I don't want to lose you slowly, Hanson! I've had an unwavering love for Hanson since I was 8. I thought I was gonna marry Taylor Hanson because we have the same name.

But how many teenagers headline major tours? And how many call the shots on all the performance details, right down to set design and musical melodies? For her tour, Taylor Swift is handling all of that herself.

Taylor Swift: Let's just see what it feels like to drop it out completely. I want it to be a three part harmony. Perfect, you guys.

With 29 days to go until kick-off night in Evansville, Dateline gets an exclusive look inside Taylor's open-call audition for back-up dancers.

March 25, 2009, Nashville, Tenn.

Taylor Swift: It's really hard to pick dancers because they're all so good. They all have these really special qualities about them, but we have it down to a group.

As she rehearses for her big tour kick-off in Evansville, Indiana, Taylor Swift sings about change -- something that has become very familiar to this young teen and her proud parents, Scott and Andrea, since she first burst on to the music scene three years ago.

April 2, 2009, Los Angeles, Calf.

Taylor is just one week into rehearsals when she breaks for a blitz of pre-tour promotion. Dateline gets a peek inside it all.

There's a photo shoot for tour sponsor LEI jeans, and interviews with Access Hollywood, and The Tonight Show. Then it is time to glam it up and zip over to the red carpet premiere of "Hannah Montana: The Movie"...

Paula: The red carpet closes at 6:30 and we have 30 minutes of travel.

Taylor Swift: We need to go.

Paula: So we need to move.

Taylor Swift: Thanks, you guys! OK, when we get off the stairs we need to bolt. We need to literally gallop. Ooh, it's a conscious effort to inhale & exhale. I'm going to completely need to undo this dress.

Paula: It's that bad, huh?

Taylor Swift: Nah, I'll be fine. I'm being dramatic. (looking at phone) Late to the Hannah Montana premiere.

Taylor swift 13 is Taylor's personal twitter. The viral star has some 500,000 followers on twitter and more than a million friends on her MySpace blog.

Taylor Swift: I am shopping for bikinis online for the summer because I can't really go shopping anymore because I don't have time (laughs) so I just wrote a novel of a blog and then posted it. It's really hitting me that I get to go on my first headlining tour. With a big stage. There are a bunch of new people you're going to see with us this year. First of all, we have six new dancers who can point their toes and twirl and stuff with the best of them.

In the midst of tour preps, Taylor takes Dateline inside her top secret rehearsal space - hidden inside a warehouse near her home in Nashville - for an exclusive preview of how the show is coming together.

Taylor Swift: Call for band and dancers to the stage, curtain will come and lock you out in about 5 seconds.

Taylor's mom, Andrea, is still dazed by her daughter's remarkable talent.

Andrea Swift: Honestly, the musical end of it, not one bone in my body. My mother was an opera singer so it completely skipped a generation and jumped over me, landed right on Taylor. I still sometimes see that little two-year-old in the backseat in the car seat.

If the pipes you hear in these private home movies are a natural gift, Taylor's drive and her fierce determination stun everyone. At the tender age of 11, she convinced her mom to take her on a trip from their home in Pennsylvania to Nashville's famed music row.

Taylor Swift: I was just dead set on Nashville ever since I saw a TV special about Faith Hill, and it said that she went to Nashville.

So, with this demo CD in hand, the little girl with big dreams began knocking on some of country music’s biggest doors.

Taylor Swift: My mom and my little brother all went to Nashville and-- drove up and down Music Row. My mom would stop in front of a record label. And I'd run in and--

Taylor Swift: --hand them my CD, to the receptionist. And I'd be like, hi. I'm Taylor. I want a record deal. Call me.

Hoda Kotb: (laughter) Oh, God. How'd that go over?

Taylor Swift: It was sort of like, aw, little girl.

Hoda Kotb: Ain't she sweet?

Hoda Kotb: Did you hear back from anybody?

Taylor Swift: I think I got a call from someone and they were like, just wanted to let you know we got your CD, and we wanted to say keep trying. That's when I learned how to play guitar. And I started writing my own songs. I would find time to write either in class (laugh), which-- you know, when the teachers would conduct random notebook checks, (laugh) you can imagine their surprise when it's algebra on this side of the page and (sings) "Drew looks at me" (laugh) on the other side of the page.

Those same sweet, heartfelt lyrics we see Taylor singing during rehearsals are what first got noticed by RCA records -the label behind famous names Like Cristina Aguilera, Kelly Clarkson and Dave Matthews. Taylor was only 14.

Taylor Swift: I played them a few songs. And they said that they wanted to sign me to a development deal. A development deal is an in-between record deal. It's like, a guy saying that he wants to date you but not be your boyfriend. (laugh) You know, they don't wanna sign you to an actual record deal or put an album out on you. They wanna watch your progress for a year.

But at the end of that year, a major letdown. RCA took a pass on Taylor.

Taylor Swift: --keep me in development till I was probably about 18. So I walked away from the biggest record label in Nashville.

By then, Taylor had convinced her family to move to Nashville, where she kept writing songs and playing wherever she could, still hoping for that one lucky break.

Taylor Swift: I had this-- this big showcase at the Bluebird Café. And all of these record labels showed up. And at the end, this guy named Scott Borchetta came up to me.
Video: Meet Liz

ScottBorchetta: I remember sitting there just kind of--(closes his eyes) just - is this gonna hit me? And it absolutely did. And so I went and met with the family after that.

Taylor Swift: He said, "I have good news and I have bad news."Scott Borchetta worked at Universal Records. And so, he goes, "The good news is that I wanna sign you to a record deal. The bad news is that I'm no longer with Universal records."

Hoda Kotb: Oh no.

Taylor Swift: He then explained to me that he wanted to start up his own brand new record label. And that he didn't have a name for it. He didn't have a building for it. And he didn't have a staff for it. But he had a dream, and would I go on board? I went with my gut instinct which-- which just said, say yes.

Hoda Kotb: That was a giant leap of faith, wasn't it?

Taylor Swift: There are a million ways it could've gone wrong, (laugh) yeah.

Borchetta called his little record label “Big Machine.”And within no time, the neophyte record president and his ingénue were on the fast track to music fame.

ScottBorchetta: I think it was in August of 2005, Taylor played me a song called “When You Think Tim McGraw.” She finished the song and I said, "Do you realize what you just have written? Do you have any idea?" That was that moment of, "Oh my God." And the grenade dropped in the still pond.

Taylor Swift: Full day of rehearsals! Didn't know that we were filming? Right now.

Andrea Swift: Let's go!

April 5

It's less than three weeks until her tour kicks off and Taylor Swift is walking into dress rehearsals, but this time it's for The Academy Of Country Music Awards, where she's nominated for three awards, including album of the year. And she is ecstatic.

And the winner for album of the year... Taylor Swift: “Fearless.”

Taylor Swift: I freaked out. In this room, we have a person who has written songs with me since I was 14 years old and it was no profit to you because I didn't have a record deal and people thought you were crazy, but you... We have Scott Borchetta, who signed us to the record deal, who lets me write my own songs… And the fans aren't here but thanks to them and everyone else in this room, I love you guys so much. We just won album of the year!

@taylorswift13: still smiling about the acms. back to nashville for rehearsals...

What a rush for a girl who was discovered just a few years ago. And look where she is now.

13 days till tour kick-off

Taylor Swift: Just arrived at rehearsals. I'm about to go do Pilates and I'm going to do that with the whole band and then we have rehearsals all day... This tour is my baby. I'm just so excited about every angle from seeing that stage go from a drawing that I drew to seeing it 20 feet in the air--

Taylor Swift: During the actual show, there will be racks and racks and racks.

Hoda Kotb: so you see it all in your mind?

Taylor Swift: Yeah, I just spend all my time organizing it in my head. It's just so much fun for me to think of the song the way people think of it on the record and turn it into a completely different thing for the live show.

Hoda Kotb: Cool effects?

Taylor Swift: Well, the cool thing about this stage is that it's a giant projector screen. The stage is different for every single song.

If there's any doubt that a teenager can lead a major tour, Taylor puts all naysayers to shame. From business decisions, to animated projections, to chord progressions, this 19-year-old is in charge of every aspect of her tour.

Andrea Swift: Every single decision that's made, whether it's talking about artwork that's gonna go on the side of the buses for the tour or a script that needs to be read, you know, almost invariably, someone in the room says, "Have you checked with Taylor?"

April 10, Nashville, Tenn.

Jen: When do you want her at rehearsals?

Taylor Swift: At least a day ahead of time. So she knows her queues. She's coming up on a lift and she needs to know when...

Hoda Kotb: Is it hard to make your vision come out exactly the way you want it?

Taylor Swift: There are times when you get frustrated, but the one thing you always focus on is treating people well. You just cannot storm off and freak out. People don't take you seriously if you scream, if you raise your voice, especially when you're a 19-year-old girl.

Taylor's band is made up of all types of musicians - among them a hard rock lover, a fiddler and a banjo player. While their musical tastes may differ, they all agree on one thing:

Caitlin Evanson, fiddler: Taylor's a 40-year old in a 19-year old's body. She's made and meant to be doing what she's doing. She knows how to lead the room and lead the stage. And she knows how to do it too without being some task master.
Video: Meet Caitlin

Taylor Swift: I don't know about that, maybe between the first one and the second one. I think more kickdrum related. More the kick rather than the cymbal.

At times she may look frustrated -- but Taylor's strive for perfection only makes the people who work with this young star respect her that much more.

Paul Sudoti, guitarist: There's been times where I've played a solo, and then she'll say "Well, can you kind of do this" and she'll sing me a melody and I'll incorporate that and that's very impressive for someone her age.

Taylor Swift: The problem that I was having with the solo is that it's like its getting a little noodley, like its (sound). I'd rather it be like ner-ner-ner-ner-ner. less, less notes. That would be great. Let's try it again.

Paul Sudoti: That was totally along the right lines.

Taylor Swift: Awesome, y'all wanna break for lunch?

One minute she's the woman in charge, the next, just a regular kid.

Taylor Swift: So today, I spent the first half of my day at rehearsals and then the next half of my day is gonna be spent at this Elle photo shoot.

Taylor Swift may look the part of a Hollywood princess, but she doesn't act like it. Here she is at a grocery store posing for a magazine shoot.

Taylor Swift: I'm going to be posing in a couture dress in a grocery aisle because they said pick where you spend a lot of time and where you're most comfortable and I really love grocery stores.

Hoda Kotb: You get a lot of press for being the good girl. You're not in the tabloids. You're not drunk, stumbling down on the ground. You're not flashing, you know, your business all over the place. And that, somehow, makes you unique. Do you find that odd, that's the unique thing among 19-year-olds?

Taylor Swift: I have always felt a little strange about it being so unique that I'm not a train wreck. Like, this weird fluke that I'm not-- partying all the time and, you know, drunk in this interview.

Taylor Swift: I'm just not very interested. People talk to me a lot about, "Why don't you ever rebel?" And I feel like I do rebel. To me, rebelling is-- is that rush you get when you sing a song about someone and you know they're in the crowd. Like, that's a really fun rebellion for me.

Music: Hey, Stephen, I know looks can be deceiving, but I know I saw a light in you...

Taylor Swift: If something happens to me, you're going to hear about it. I only know how to write songs about my life.

The song "Forever And Always" is an emotional beat in Taylor's personal story, detailing her highly publicized breakup with teen heartthrob Joe Jonas, a painful episode in her life that she opened up to Ellen Degeneres about last fall.

Taylor Swift: I'm not even going to be able to remember the boy who broke up with me over the phone in 25 seconds when I was 18.

She's much more tight-lipped about it now.

Hoda Kotb: I'll just name some people/ We'll just play a word game. Zach Effron.

Hoda Kotb: You do write about things that-- that are authentic. The whole Joe Jonas thing. Putting that thing on paper, did that just flow right outta you?

Taylor Swift: I write songs about what I go through.

Hoda Kotb: Yeah.

Taylor Swift: it's just like any other song that I've written. It's about a person. And-- that person then becomes a character in a song.

Mock interview:

Hoda Kotb: I'm sitting down with Taylor Swift.

Even I became part of the show when Taylor asked me to tape a mock interview to use for her tour.

Mock interview:

Taylor Swift: I'm so excited.

Taylor Swift: It starts out with Hoda and I in these maroon chairs and what we'll do is we'll have the video play and then on the stage when the video stops playing we'll have one of my backup dancers recreate her hair and her outfit and be sitting with her back to the audience. Like the whole song. I'm doing an interview and basically the song is like, I have a meltdown in an interview.

Mock interview:

Hoda Kotb: I heard that when you write songs you include the names of the actual guys you've dated.

Taylor Swift: I guess that in that situation, I just figure if guys don't want me to write bad songs about them they shouldn't do bad things.

Music: “Forever And Always:”

Was I out of line, did I say something way too honest

made you run and hide, like a scared little boy.

I looked into your eyes

Hoda Kotb: There's so much emotion in the whole thing/

Taylor Swift: Oh yeah, that's an emotional one.

Hoda Kotb: When you're in the front, right?! And the whole chair throwing, I'm into the whole thing. I'm into the whole stammering, stumbling...

Taylor Swift: It's like you're my therapist. It's awesome. You get to feel a lot during that song.

Taylor is definitely not shy about sharing her feelings. Her songs are melodic versions of her diary. No topic off limits, no emotion too raw, no relationship too private. She writes about her lowest lows...

Andrea Swift: The first time that she played The Best Day for me-- was Christmas Eve. She had made this edited music video. I'm looking on the TV and this video comes up with this voice that sounds exactly like Taylor's. And I looked over at her and she said, "I wrote it for you, Mom." And that's when I lost it. And-- and I've lost it pretty much every time I've heard that song since.

Taylor Swift: It's a different kind of friendship than the cool mom who tries to party with her daughter. She's my best friend. And we're definitely never gonna go clubbing together.

Clubbing is not Taylor's style, period. In fact, she still lives with her parents and younger brother Austin in this Nashville house, and she still writes songs right here in her bedroom. And when we got a tour of Taylor's house, we also got some inside info on some of her secret quirks.

Taylor Swift: I like organizing things. I like organizing my closets, so that I know where everything is. And-- and I used to color code it. You know-- (laughter)--

Hoda Kotb: You did? You really col-- color coded your closet?

Taylor Swift: Yeah, I-- I used to do that.

Hoda Kotb: You're "that girl."

Taylor Swift: I was "that girl." I don't really color code any more.

With only weeks to go before her big tour kick-off, who has time for that?

Taylor Swift: Ready to go on tour? Ready!

Off cam: What are we doing right now?

Taylor Swift: We're here. We're about to leave. We're about to go on tourrrrrrrr!

Taylor Swift dubbed her debut tour “Fearless” - just like her bestselling album. With 52 shows squeezed into a hectic 6-month schedule, taylor and co. Will be criss-crossing the country through o=October.

Hoda Kotb: It is bizarre to know that this is all yours? Do you feel ready?

Taylor Swift: I'm ready.

April 14, 2008, Nashville, Tenn.

But even while she's knee deep in rehearsals, Taylor still has other performances to think about. Tonight, it's a set at the Grand Ol' Opry - country music's most famous stage.

@taylorswift13: playing at the grand ol' opry tonight

Just before Taylor's tour finally kicks off, we get a sneak peek inside what is about to become her home away from home.

Taylor Swift: This is my lucky number 13 and I put it on the door because I touch it every night before I go on stage.

Hoda Kotb: Alright. What do we have here?

Taylor Swift: The girliest bus ever.

Hoda Kotb: No kidding! Did you design the whole deal?

Taylor Swift: Yeah, completely. It was while I was making my second album so while I would leave the studio I would go over to the bus place and help them design it. It has a fireplace.

Hoda Kotb: OK. This is crazy. I love it! So who's gonna ride with you here on this bus?

Taylor Swift: My mom rides with me on this bus. The first two years I was on a bus with my band and crew and it was really crowded and, ya know, thanks to how great this year's been we've been able to expand it and have a little space.

Hoda Kotb: Show me the rest of it.

Taylor Swift: This is my room. Check it out.

Hoda Kotb: I gotta get in here. Oh, how cool is this!

Taylor Swift: I'm so excited ‘cause I've never had a TV in my room before until I got this bus.

Hoda Kotb: You are kidding. It must be weird to realize the impact that you're having on people you don't know?

Taylor Swift: Yesterday in my little hometown of Hendersonville, Tennessee, when I'm in Cracker Barrel and this adorable couple comes up and is like, "Will you please hold our baby?" and they gave me their little five-month-old baby and I was like, "Sure, do you have a camera?" And they were like, "No, we just wanted to tell her some day that you held her."

Hoda Kotb: It's got to be a little overwhelming sometimes, huh?

Taylor Swift: In the best way possible though.

@taylorswift13: On the bus to Indiana...Ahh, back to the good old days..

It's finally here. The day of her “Fearless” tour kick-off, and Taylor is filled with anticipation. If she can pull it off, all her planning and execution will culminate tonight. Dateline is backstage with Taylor in her vibe room - a cozy hang-out that is set up at every show.

Taylor Swift: I can't believe this is actually happening today, we've been rehearsing in a warehouse for three weeks now and, and it’s like, there's actually going to be a crowd.

Emily: All there for you!

All there for her. Yet Taylor shows no signs of nerves - perfectly relaxed, confident that everything will go off without a hitch.

Taylor Swift: I'm signing a bunch of different things for the venue. I never get tired of signing autographs ‘cause I used to do it so much in class dreaming about the day that it might mean something to somebody. Also, I can do it with my eyes closed. Watch!

It is just four hours before Taylor Swift is due to hit the stage in Evansville, Indiana for the big kick-off of her Fearless tour, and she is in a panic.

Taylor Swift: I'm burning ‘cause there is wax in my eye!

But moments later, she's back, crisis averted.

Taylor Swift: Hey, did you see me get attacked by the candle?

Candle frenzy aside, the mood is so low-key backstage, it feels more like a slumber party then the evening of a major tour kickoff.

Taylor Swift: Amazing, Amazing.

And Taylor is positively normal.

Taylor Swift: OMG. OMG. Mac sent us all this body paint. Alright, it's now 4'o'clock. We're about three hours from my first show on my headline tour and I'm so excited. Um, this is actually happening and I can't wait.

Then at 7 o'clock, it's time: the 52-show “Fearless” tour is under way. Taylor gathers the group for one last pep-talk.

Taylor Swift: You guys are my brothers and my sisters, and I just want to thank you for that. And I couldn't, I couldn't love you more. And we're going to go out and there and be fearless. What are we going to be?

Taylor Swift: When I hear that high-pitched sound of all those people screaming together, it's like, I want to get on stage right now. It's the most amazing feeling. It's one of the craziest feelings to be on stage and know that you were sitting on your bedroom floor when that song came to be and now there's an arena full of people singing it.

Andrea Swift: What an amazing show, OMG! So proud of you honey. So good. I wish you could have seen the expressions of people’s faces when they saw the water coming down.

Taylor Swift: Where they like what?

Andrea Swift: It was like, "Oh, no, she didn't!!"

Taylor Swift: Is that what they were saying? (laughs)

Andrea Swift: Yeah.

Taylor Swift: The crowd was freakin’ crazy.

She has pulled it off. Her first show is a smash. But incredibly, she is still tweaking, still perfecting.

Taylor Swift: I still have a bunch of notes for lighting and stuff. I have a lot of notes for lighting and stuff.

Taylor Swift: We started out the day in Kansas and then we flew to Virginia. Then we got another plane and we're going to Chicago. And then tomorrow, we fly back to Nashville. Then the next day, we fly to South Carolina, then Jacksonville, then Biloxi, then London. Say that four times fast!

Taylor Swift: We are almost in London. We're about to land. London is awesome.
Video: Meet Grant

@taylorswift13: About to play Charleston, SC. ...Crazy

@taylorswift13: post-beach, pre-show nap. Biloxi Mississippi!

@taylorswift13: About to play Charleston, SC....

@taylorswift13: The plane jerked up in the air, then back down...Hi Spokane.

Hoda Kotb: Close your eyes. Ten years from now, you're 29. How do you see-- what's-- what's happening in your life?

Taylor Swift: I could have kids. I could be married. I could be single. I could-- I could live in Nashville, or I could live in L.A., or I could live in the Bahamas. I don't know.

Hoda Kotb: You got a lot of-- a lot of choices?

Taylor Swift: If you would have told me four years ago that I'd be sitting here, you know, putting together this huge tour and winning album of the year, I wouldn't have believed you. And to think ten years from now, that's such a long time. And I'm just open to whatever it brings.

Dateline wires the home of a volunteer, Jenny, from top to bottom with hidden cameras. Then she called repairmen to her house for a simple problem we created as a test with Jenny's pool. NBC's Chris Hansen reports.